Isolation
My Portuguese friend the Lamprey Queen called Friday evening to ask if I had time to go for coffee. She wanted to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution that had brought democracy to her country. LQ had tried to explain about the revolution to her colleagues but they didn't really pay attention. Normally she doesn't talk about her homeland unless someone asks, once in a blue moon, but this was very important to her. She accepts that Portugal is a small country which people will know almost nothing about, but on this particular day she found it a bit hard to be surrounded by people who didn't understand and, worse, didn't care.
From the bottom of my heart, I sympathised with her. As a foreigner, it's inevitable that these moments of isolation will occur -- something important is happening in your country and you can't really share it with those around you because they don't have the same background. A somewhat different example to LQ's, but I distinctly remember when Peter Blake died and no one around me knew who he was or why he was important. But living in England makes it harder because most English people aren't curious about other countries.
Anyway, afterwards I showed LQ the artwork at Bedford Square which was full of people and wine from a party that had spilled across the road from what looked like a vernissage. It was twilight, so the pretty purple lights on top of the installation were just about visible.
From the bottom of my heart, I sympathised with her. As a foreigner, it's inevitable that these moments of isolation will occur -- something important is happening in your country and you can't really share it with those around you because they don't have the same background. A somewhat different example to LQ's, but I distinctly remember when Peter Blake died and no one around me knew who he was or why he was important. But living in England makes it harder because most English people aren't curious about other countries.
Anyway, afterwards I showed LQ the artwork at Bedford Square which was full of people and wine from a party that had spilled across the road from what looked like a vernissage. It was twilight, so the pretty purple lights on top of the installation were just about visible.